S-CONCRETE Batch-Processing

 

If you are an existing S-CONCRETE user, you are likely familiar with its intuitive interface, and powerful design calculations.  S-CONCRETE is a great tool for code checking, or designing reinforced concrete beam, flat slab, column, or wall sections, and is trusted for many of the world’s most recognizable concrete structures.

Using S-CONCRETE’s interface, however, only lets the user interact with one section at a time.  It is not uncommon for an Engineer to have to code check, or design dozens of sections within their structure.  For these scenarios, processing one section at a time can be tedious, and time consuming.  For instance, creating the .SCO files (S-CONCRETE files), whether manually or through custom tools developed by the organization, which contain the file information (e.g., concrete section, material properties, loads, etc.).  In these scenarios, running S-CONCRETE in Batch Mode can greatly improve efficiency.  For users struggling to create and define large quantities of .SCO files, the Multistory Designer (MSD) in S-CONCRETE may be of interest; however, for the purpose of this article we will focus on Batch Processing.

S-CONCRETE’s Batch Mode allows a folder containing multiple S-CONCRETE data files (.SCO) to be processed in one go, with no need to interact with the graphical user interface.  All sections will be code checked, and results are made available in a few different formats.  It is also worth mentioning that to a lot of our users the real value of this Batch Processing tool is the final documentation and report printouts, either to keep as a record, or sharing with a colleague or a building code review authority. 

There are two different ways to run S-CONCRETE in Batch Mode:

 

       1. S-CONCRETE Batch Processing and Reporting Utility

This is accessed through S-CONCRETE’s Run Menu à Batch Processing and Reporting Utility…

 

 A dialogue will open, which allows the user to specify the location of the SCO files you wish to process.  You also can configure the ‘Design Aids’ output to include additional data like Overstrength Ratios, and Moment Capacities for each seismic load case. 

 

 If the sections have not been batch processed, you will see the option to ‘Run Batch’, which will begin the batch processing.

After the batch processing is completed, the user can configure the design report contents (Choose Report Options’), and output a detailed, consolidated Engineering Design Report for every section in their Batch Folder, using the same format that they are used to in S-CONCRETE.

 

 

 

       2. Command Line Execution

To start S-CONCRETE in batch processing mode, execute the following command line:

"path\Sconcrete"    folder/BATCH/argument1/argument2/argument3

Where:

Variable	Description
path	Full path to S-CONCRETE executable.
folder	Full path to folder containing the SCO files to be run.
argument1	Optional argument for results output format. It can be one of the following: /FULL       for detailed results output (default, and can be omitted) /BRIEF      for results summary only
argument2	Optional argument for type of solution.  It can be one of the following: /CHECK    for code checking (default, and can be omitted) /DESIGN   for automated design
argument3	Optional argument for calculation and output of design aids: /DAIDS      for moment capacities and overstrength ratios

 

A few notes:

• The .SCO files to be run in a batch must be contained in the same folder.
• To process .SCO files in multiple folders, you can write a batch command (.bat file) that includes multiple line commands.
• The output file of the batch results for each folder is located in that folder. The name of the output file is:  SConcreteResults-#.SCRS.
• If you rerun a batch on the same folder, S-CONCRETE creates an additional output file, incrementing the # in the filename.

 

To summarize, the Batch Processing and Reporting Utility allows for the batch creation of S-CONCRETE PDF reports.  Both options will also create the SCRS (S-CONCRETE Results) file that can be opened in a text editor to document your design results in a more open file format.